A little weirdness goes a long way.

But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.  Anne Bronte

We have roses.  They are not lasting long in this heat but a small spray of the little paper ones or a single dark red one in a specimen vase does so lift the heart!  The gardenias are out too but the heat has done for them & they are browning  before the petals even unfurl.  So  Sad.  I do love a gardenia.

Anyway some odd things happen in this house.  Ever notice?  Dino came rushing in madly Saturday all excited babbling that he'd just seen a quail in our garden.  Now I got all excited about that because quail, as you know, are tiny ground dwellers & rather shy, & though I used to see them regularly when we first moved here the drought & all the clearing seems to have finished them off, along with the yellow robins & the little rose robins, which I haven't seen in years & years.  [Perish the thought about accusing my cats!]  I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the visitor but before that happened Dino re arrived declaring it wasn't a quail after all but some weird looking *duck*.  I use the term loosely ~ very loosely indeed.  Not overly exciting though certainly nice to know.

Eventually I caught sight of Dino's *duck* through the kitchen windows.  *sigh*  No, not a duck. This is much more likely.  Probably not the Lewin's if those stats are correct but certainly a member of the family.  I know we get them as I've seen them before, though never more than just the one & very irregularly if we have a wetter than usual season.  Our garden is being kept very damp just now, which is what has attracted it.

So, one rail.  The next morning I got up to find both cats prowling the house with their ears pricked & their fur all on end.  This usually means the snakes in the walls are moving around & driving my animals crazy.  Yes, I know.  We live in the country; we have wild life, OK?   I paddled down the stairs & as I hit the hallway floor there was an almighty QUORK!!! from under my feet.  The cats & I all lept backwards.  Yep, the stupid bird had got in under the house & was making the strangest assortment of noises that kept the cats on edge all morning.

At some point I am likely to sprook about any of the following, all of which are on my desk right now & all of which I am randomly reading: Mad Dogs & Englishmen ~ the sort of racey & personal history I can get quite excited about!  The Islamic Anti~Christ & God's War on Terror ~ something for you all to look forward too, yes? ☺ Prepare yourself, people.  We're on holidays I I have plenty of time for rabbitting on endlessly!